SerpApi.Org
Kevin Feige is taking personal responsibility for Marvel Studios' failure to get its long-delayed "Blade" reboot starring Mahershala Ali in front of cameras.
The Marvel Studios president addressed the troubled project during an appearance on Josh Horowitz's "Happy Sad Confused" podcast, offering one of his bluntest assessments yet of a movie first announced seven years ago.
"I am feeling like a gigantic loser and failure that we didn't get off the ground with Mahershala," Feige said.
Horowitz had jokingly asked how much time Feige had spent discussing "Blade" in therapy, prompting the executive's unusually candid response.
Ali made a surprise appearance at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2019, where Marvel announced that the two-time Academy Award winner would succeed Wesley Snipes as the vampire-hunting Daywalker. Ali put on a "Blade" cap as he joined Feige onstage, immediately making the reboot one of Marvel's most anticipated projects.
The film has never reached production.
Bassam Tariq was initially hired to direct but exited in September 2022, shortly before filming was expected to begin. Yann Demange later joined the project and departed in 2024. The screenplay also passed through numerous writers as Marvel repeatedly reconsidered the story and its setting.
"Blade" received several proposed release dates, including November 2023, September 2024, February 2025 and November 2025. Disney eventually removed the movie from its release calendar entirely.
Feige did not announce a new director, production date or release window during the podcast interview. He also stopped short of confirming whether Marvel has found a new creative direction for the film.
The executive has previously said Marvel did not want to move forward until it had a version of "Blade" that the studio believed was strong enough. Ali, meanwhile, indicated in 2025 that he remained willing to play the character, telling reporters that he was ready whenever Marvel was.
Despite the failure to launch Ali's reboot, Marvel brought Snipes back as Blade in 2024's "Deadpool & Wolverine." Snipes' surprise appearance marked his first performance as the character since 2004's "Blade: Trinity."
Feige described getting Snipes back into the role as exciting, but his remarks made clear that the cameo did not erase his disappointment over the unfinished Ali project.
Marvel has not officially canceled the reboot. However, with no director, production schedule or release date currently announced, its future remains uncertain.
For now, Feige's comments are not a revival announcement. They are a rare public acknowledgment that one of Marvel's most heavily promoted projects has spent seven years unable to make it out of development.
